Elysium (Percy Jackson x Luke Castellan)
by xShinahx
Summary: After his death, Luke decided to stay in Elysium rather than try for the Isles of the Blest. But he didn't expect to see Percy again so soon…
1. Chapter 1

"You've lived a treacherous life, Luke Castellan!" Hades boomed, resting his arms on the sides of his blackened throne. "You betrayed your friends, family and took part in helping Kronos rise again before a sudden change of heart. Still inexcusable behavior, honestly, if it were up to me I would send you to the pits of-"

Persephone coughed and glared at her husband, who stopped mid-sentence and cleared his throat before continuing.

"..But, seeing that you've played a big role in saving Olympus and repented in the end, I have no choice but to reward you for your heroic sacrifice. That and Hermes would pester me to no end if I did otherwise." Hades grumbled. "First, streamlining the Hunters' application processes and now this. How many more times must I be overruled by the other gods when _I'm_ the Lord of the Dead?"

"Thank you, Lord Hades." Luke bowed. His sandy blonde hair was slightly drenched in sweat and his heart was still pounding from anxiety, knowing very well that he didn't live a life that fully deserved to be rewarded. But the war was finally over and it gave him peace to know that Olympus had finally won. The Prophecy hadn't been about Percy after all. Luke unknowingly winced when he put a hand under his left arm, where his Achilles heel had once been.

"You must choose between two paths: being sent straight to Elysium and living the rest of your days in glory or trying for the Isles of the Blest, which will require you to be reborn three times and risk being placed in the Asphodels and blah blah blah- well, as a demigod you should know the rest. Don't make me repeat information that you already know." The Lord of the Dead rolled his eyes. He glanced down at Luke and stared at him for a solid moment before speaking again. "Well, what will it be, Son of Hermes? Elysium or rebirth for a chance at the Isles of the Blest?"

Luke opened his mouth to say that he'd try out for the Isles of the Blest but then stopped, another thought occurring in his head. If he chose to be reborn…he'd lose all of his memories of this life, wouldn't he? Everything would be washed away once he was reborn as a completely different person. His memories of Camp Half-Blood, the war, his friends and family… all forgotten in the blink of an eye.

He couldn't allow himself to forget everything that he and the others went through, even if it did mean giving up at trying to achieve the best paradise that the Underworld had to offer. He wouldn't trade his memories of being Luke Castellan for anything else in the world, no matter how wretched his life had been. Besides, there was someone who he wanted to see again.

Luke swallowed and met Hades' eyes unwaveringly, standing up straighter.

"I choose Elysium."

* * *

 _"Ethan. Me. All the unclaimed. Don't let it…don't let it happen again."_

 _Crimson blood trickled down Luke's chin and began to pool underneath him. The blood began to flow faster and faster and suddenly, the Throne Room was flooded with a sea of red as Luke's body began to drift away from sight._

 _"Luke! LUKE!"_

"Perrrrcy!"

Percy woke up with a start and scrambled up to his feet, reaching for Riptide in his pocket and stopped when he saw a familiar figure standing next to his bed.

"Yikes, take it easy! You're not turning me into minced meat!" Grover bleated alarmingly as he backed away. Percy sighed and dropped the pen back into his pocket, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry, Grover. It's… It's been rough the past couple of weeks. Sometimes I forget that-"

"-the war's over?" Grover looked at him sympathetically, one of his ears twitching. "Yeah, me too. Being a Lord of the Wild isn't all it's cracked up to be, either. Juniper's been furious with me always working with the nature spirits." He bleated sadly.

"Jealousy is a scary thing, G-Man." Percy grinned. He pushed his dark black hair away from his eyes and smoothed it over to the side. "Anyways, what'd you wake me up for?"

Grover nervously shuffled his feet. "I felt you from the empathy link. You were doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"Saying Luke's name in your sleep. It was pretty bad this time, Percy. You were nearly shouting."

Percy furrowed his brows and wiped his forehead with his sleeve, only to find it beaded with cold sweat. He noticed that his hands were a little shaky and clenched them into fists, trying to get a hold of himself. This had been going on ever since what had happened in the Throne Room with him and Luke. His dreams constantly plagued him with having to relive Luke's death over and over again, sometimes in even more grislier detail than he'd remembered.

"Percy… you don't think this means anything, do you?" Grover asked, his eyes reflecting worry for his friend. "Chiron always said that dreams can be interpreted as a form of foreshadowing."

"No. I-I mean, I'm sure it doesn't mean anything. I guess I just wasn't ready for Luke to die." Percy bit his lip, frustrated with himself for looking so weak. Seeing someone die right in front of his eyes wasn't anything new to him. Why did Luke's death affect him so much to the point of not being able to get a good night's sleep for weeks?

Grover was looking at him with an unreadable expression, as if he knew something more about what was going on but didn't want to prod further.

"Anyways, thanks for waking me up." Percy patted Grover on the back and gave him a grin, trying to uplift the awkward situation. He yawned and glanced at the mirror on his bedside table and almost yelped when he saw the dark circles that had formed beneath his eyes overnight. "Gods, I really need some sleep. Do you think nectar works like sleeping pills?"

"I wouldn't recommend it." Someone stepped out from the shadows, making the two of them jump up in shock. "Percy, I swear, sometimes you seem like you have an early death wish."

"Nico?! What in the… How long were you there?" Percy yelled, horrified that the younger demigod had heard too much.

"Calm down. Well, I was sitting here long enough to hear most of everything." Nico grinned.

"Shadow-travel never ceases to amaze me." Grover shook his head in wonder.

"But I _didn't_ use shadow-travel. You guys were so stuck in conversation that you didn't even see me when I opened Percy's cabin door to come inside." Nico walked over and sat down on the bed, crossing his legs comfortably. "But listen, Percy. I think I have a solution to your 'Luke' problem."

"It's not a 'Luke' problem." Percy said, sounding a bit embarrassed. "It's a sleeping problem."

"Whatever you want to call it. Gods." Nico shook his head. "Here, take this." He reached into the pockets of his tattered black jeans and pulled out a small black stone.

"Gee, thanks. A pebble." Percy said sarcastically, taking it and tossing the small stone up and down in his palm. "This is going to be such a big help in me reliving Luke's bloody death over and over in my sleep, Nico."

"You're going to regret calling that a pebble, Percy." Nico said warningly. "It's a very ancient and powerful form of magic. It was a gift to me from my father."

"Hades gave that to you?" Grover said, astonished. "What does it do?"

"It allows you to communicate with a deceased person in a dream, whether they be in Elysium or in the Isles of the Blest. But there are two stones. Each person, the living and dead, has to have one in order for both of you to meet."

"Nico, how is this pebble…sorry, stone." Percy corrected himself when Nico glared at him. "How is this stone going to help?"

"I think you're dreaming about Luke because you have some sort of unfinished business with him." Nico said slowly. "I can travel back to the Underworld and give Luke the other stone so that the next time both of you fall asleep, you can meet each other in your dreams and say whatever needs to be said."

Percy turned to Grover with a raised eyebrow, questioning his friend about this spontaneous plan.

"Well…" Grover started off. "Nico does have a point. I think you need some form of closure with Luke, Percy. He died without being able to explain himself and about what he did in the past."

"Okay. So say I agree to this absurd plan." Percy clutched the small black stone in his hand and looked down at it. "But there's one small problem; Luke isn't in the Underworld. I remember he told Annabeth that he'd try for the Isles of the Blest before he died."

Nico shook his head, his tousled hair falling above his eyes. "He chose Elsyium. He's there, I can sense it. I'll go down to the Underworld and give him the other stone. All you have to do is put your stone under your pillow before you go to sleep tonight."

"What is this, some kind of Tooth Fairy magic?" Percy grumbled. He glanced at Grover and Nico, both looking at him with expectant expressions. "But fine, I'll do it. Just make sure Luke's in on this, too, or I'll feel stupid for doing this. I'm gonna go get washed up."

Percy shoved the stone underneath his pillow and yawned again before walking to the back of his cabin to go get washed up. "And Nico, knock before you come in next time or I'm unleashing Mrs. O'Leary on you."

"Yeah, right. She likes me more than you, anyways." Nico smirked and turned to Grover. "You're not heading to the Big House for breakfast, Grover?"

Grover shook his head. "I have to get back to the nature spirits to listen to a proposal on saving the wildlife in North Carolina. Though getting sometime to eat doesn't sound like a bad idea." The satyr's stomach growled loudly as he eyed Percy's bed hungrily.

"G-Man? You better not be thinking about eating my mattress. Or any of my other furniture." Percy's voice rang out warningly from the bathroom.

* * *

After dinner at the Big House, Percy turned off the lights of his cabin and plopped down on his bed, exhausted. He had been practicing sparring with a couple sons of Hermes and was rewarded with a fresh pair of purple bruises on his sides.

He winced as he turned on his stomach and reached underneath his pillow, pulling out the black stone that Nico had given him earlier that morning. Honestly, the whole thing was absurd. But if this 'powerful ancient artifact' really did have the power to give him the chance to see Luke and talk with him about everything…

Percy placed the stone underneath his pillow again and turned on his back so that he was facing the ceiling, apprehensive yet slightly hopeful. If nothing happened and Nico was just pulling his leg about the whole thing, gods, he was going to kill him.

Before he knew it, he drifted off into blackness.

When he opened his eyes again, Percy found himself lying on his back and looking up at the night sky, a million stars scattered across the vast galaxy. He sat up and slowly got to his feet, looking around at his surroundings. The air was cold and he shivered a little as he observed that he was in a grassy field with no signs of civilization to be found.

"Percy?"

Percy jumped at the sudden sound of someone calling him. He turned around and found himself face-to-face with his former enemy.

Luke was standing a couple of feet away from him but his dark eyes reflected the same shock that Percy was feeling.

"..Luke."


	2. Chapter 2

The two demigods stared at each other, the deceased one's startled blue eyes meeting the living one's sea green ones. Percy took a step back on the heightened green grass, his focus still on his former enemy.

"No way.. I can't believe Nico's freaky pebble actually worked." He said under his breath, making Luke's blonde eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"What pebble?" Luke questioned immediately, his eyes narrowing at the Son of the Sea God.

Percy arched his brow back. "What? Nico didn't tell you? Then how are you here-.." He stopped mid sentence, unsure of how to explain the situation to the other male.

Actually… it might be better for Luke to think that this dream _wasn't_ real- that the Percy standing in front of him was just a figment of his imagination. That way, it would make things less awkward and Luke would be more willing to talk to him.

"This is such a weird dream. Why _you_ , out of all people?" Luke wondered out loud, not caring that Percy could hear everything he was saying. The blonde put a hand to his right shoulder and stretched his neck to the side, his expression looking troubled.

"Uh-huh... Right." Percy nodded, quickly thinking as he played along with Luke's words. Nico must have somehow snuck the other stone underneath Luke's pillow without him realizing. "Bingo. This is just a dream. I'm nothing but a figment of your imagination." Luke glanced at him suspiciously but said nothing. "And you probably dreamt me up because you wanted to tell me about…" Percy's voice trailed off, his eyes meeting Luke's. "Well, about _everything._ "

For a moment, Luke just glared at him. It seemed as if the older demigod was going to walk away without saying anything, his hands balled into small fists at his sides, but suddenly he let out a deep breath and sighed. He walked over to a willow tree next to the glistening river and sat down, letting his back rest against the rough bark of the tree.

"Well, I do have a lot of explaining to do.. though I don't know why doing so would help, seeing that you're not even real. Sit down." Luke patted the space of grass next to him grudgingly, not meeting Percy's gaze. The churning sounds of the river filled the air as he looked down at the flowing crystal-clear water with an unreadable expression. "We got a lot to talk about."

* * *

Percy sat and listened as Luke began to explain about everything- about what drove him to do the terrible things he did, about his troubled history with his mother and Hermes, about his countless betrayals…

As seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours, Percy didn't say a word, only nodding occasionally to show that he was listening. He had already known much of what Luke was explaining to him- but hearing the blonde demigod explain his life amongst the living with an edge of bitterness and regret in his voice was… unexpectedly painful. He found himself sympathizing with a lot of what Luke had gone through; the sadness, the confusion, the anger that came with having a godly parent.

All of a sudden, he noticed that Luke had gone quiet.

"Luke?" Percy turned to look at him and was taken aback when he saw that Luke was staring at him with confliction etched on his features.

"I know that explaining myself won't justify anything." Luke swallowed his pride. "Listen, I know you're not real and that this is just a stupid dream but.. do you think the real Percy would forgive me for what I've done?" He asked quietly.

Percy gaped at him, his green eyes turning wide with surprise. Luke. The guy who'd hated his guts for so long. He wanted _his_ forgiveness?

"…Yeah, I think he would." Percy said at last. "Come on, your final choice saved us all. You sacrificed yourself to save Olympus, which is a pretty big deal if you ask me." He cleared his throat, averting his gaze to the sky because Luke was staring at him very intensely now. "I'm pretty sure that makes up for everything you've done to me- uh, I mean, Percy."

"Really. You think?" Luke mused, putting his arms to rest behind his head as he glanced up at the sky, too.

"Yeah."

"That's comforting. Somewhat." The corner of Luke's thin lips curved into the smallest of smiles. "Thanks."

"Tell me about Elysium." Percy turned his head to face him, trying to change the subject to a lighter one. "What's it like?" He'd seen it a couple times before but hadn't really had the chance to get a proper glimpse of the place.

"It's wonderful. It's a great feeling, being free of all the responsibilities that held you down before. Though it does get awkward sometimes." Luke winced. "Like today, when I ran into a demigod who died on the Princess Andromeda, from Kronos' army. I met him at the barbecue camp earlier this afternoon."

Percy shook his head. "Man, that's gotta be the worst way to start a barbecue party."

"Tell me about it. Even here in Elysium, I got a bunch of people who hate my guts."

"Let's face it, you're not the most likeable person."

Luke narrowed his eyes at the other male lying down on the grass next to him but then the two of them found themselves grinning sheepishly at each other. "Nobody's perfect." He turned on his side to stare at the younger demigod, whose green eyes were half-closed and relaxed as the cool night breeze gently brushed against their faces. "Hmmm.."

"What?"

"You're just a figment of my imagination, right? You're not real?"

"Right." Percy said slowly. He was beginning to feel slightly guilty for tricking the other male but didn't say anything else.

"Good. Then I've got nothing to lose if I do this." Luke muttered almost inaudibly. He sat up from the grass and suddenly, without warning, pushed the other demigod against the willow tree, making his back of Percy's head roughly collide with the base of the tree.

"Luke?! What are you-"

Luke's rough lips latched on top of his, his hands resting on the bark against the sides of Percy's head to prevent him from ducking away. "Mmph!"

He felt a pair of hands cup his face, pulling him deeper into the kiss without hesitation. Percy's green eyes were wide with shock and anger as he struggled, his hands pushing at the demigod's strong chest in vain. Luke… _Luke_ was kissing him. The Son of Poseidon shut his eyes tightly and mustered up enough strength to push the blonde away from him, panting as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Luke..hold on, this isn't-" Luke didn't let him finish and impatiently pressed his lips onto Percy's again, making the other demigod let out a small groan. Taking advantage of his parted lips this time, he slid his tongue into the other's cavern, feeling the younger demigod's shoulders stiffen against him as his tongue explored the insides of his mouth, leaving no area untouched. The pent-up feelings that Luke was conveying through the forced kiss, the way their warm tongues fiercely meshed against each other- it was slowly but surely driving Percy crazy. Against his will, Percy's eyes began to close as he felt himself begin to lose his rational thinking, the warmth spreading in his body overpowering his ability to fight back. Right when he was about to lose his mind completely and kiss back, Luke suddenly pulled away, leaving the two of them breathing heavily as they stared at each other with their chests heaving up and down.

"I've always wanted to try that." Luke grinned crookedly. Percy gaped at him, his face flushed a deep shade of red and full of disbelief as he tried to process what had just happened. His expression was one of deep embarrassment- which then quickly turned to anger. He gritted his teeth, about to unleash his rage at Luke, who was looking at him with a smirk of satisfaction.

"WHAT IN HADES' NAME-"

" _Perrrrcy!"_

Percy blinked his eyes open and squinted as a ray of sunshine hit his face from the window of his cabin. He sat up immediately, his green orbs darting around, searching for the blonde demigod that had violated his lips just moments ago but only finding an excited Son of Hades and Grover sitting cross-legged next to his bed.

"Well? Did it work? Did you get to talk to Luke?" Nico asked curiously.

Percy stared at his two friends for a solid second before letting out an angry scream.

"AUGHHHHHHHHHH!"


End file.
